A volunteer who works with elderly and disabled people claims her clients’ concerns have been ignored in the road changes to Reading town centre.

ReadiBus helper Liz Cheyney fears an accident is inevitable on a road near the railway station where a pedestrian crossing has been taken away.

And she says elderly shoppers from Caversham are struggling with heavy bags of groceries after their bus stops were moved as part of road layout changes brought in on April 18.

Ms Cheyney, 68, who sits on Reading Borough Council’s access forum, said she is concerned for people trying to cross Blagrave Street, where a signalised pedestrian crossing has been removed from outside the Oakford Social Club and the side entrance to the station.

She added: “It’s lethal. I see so many people having awful problems trying to cross, including mums with buggies and prams.

“The council says there will be very little traffic there, but there are still cars, buses and taxis and such a wide sweep into Blagrave Street.

“The council say it’s going swimmingly well. It might be if you don’t have any problems with your feet and legs.

“If they have no intention of putting in a pedestrian crossing, there is going to be an accident.”

But council spokeswoman Sarah Bishton said uncontrolled crossing points have been provided, which should be sufficient as there is less traffic under the new layout.

She added: “The new junction layout near to the RailAir link has been constructed and uncontrolled crossing points have been provided.

“With the new town centre restrictions being introduced, there is less traffic. As a result of this, there are more opportunities to cross in the breaks of traffic.”

She said independent safety auditors had agreed the junction, but officers would continue to monitor the situation.

Ms Cheyney, who used to help at the MS Therapy Centre, also criticised the change of bus stops, which means the Caversham buses no longer stop outside Sainsbury’s in Friar Street.

She said: “The people who are elderly and disabled have got a long way to walk down to the Novotel. I took a lady to Sainsbury’s in her wheelchair and I saw a lot of elderly disabled people coming out of there and there is nothing for them to catch.

“There are so many elderly and disabled people in my area and they seem to have completely forgotten about them.”

James Freeman, chief executive of Reading Transport, said: “The reality of the situation is the station is getting bigger and that means the amount of space for the buses is more constrained.

“While it’s possible to offload at Sainsbury’s, there is nowhere there for buses to stand to load.

“There is a space to load at the Ibis.”

A letter signed by 22 people living in Regency Heights retirement complex, in Caversham Heights, has also been sent to Reading Buses listing nine complaints about the changes and calling the new Number 22 service “diabolical”.

As well as the difficulty with the Sainsbury’s bus stop, the residents say it is difficult for elderly people to get to the hospital because they now have to change buses.

They also question the reason for running a double decker bus on the 22 route when a majority of customers are unable to get up the stairs.

The letter ends: “It seems as if this new service is designed to cause maximum inconvenience to the residents of Caversham.